This invention relates to a valve actuating mechanism for internal combustion engines and more particularly to an improved valve actuating mechanism that permits the use of a greater number of valves per chamber for the engine.
It is generally recognized that the specific output of an internal combustion engine can be improved by increasing the number of valves that serve each chamber of the engine. For this reason, the use of four valve cylinder heads (two intake and two exhaust per combustion chamber) is becoming a widely adopted practice with high performance engines. It has been found that still further performance gains may be enjoyed by using a greater number of valves than four per combustion chamber. However, as the number of valves per combustion engine increases, there are a number of practical considerations that limit the use of such a greater number of valves. Also, it has been proposed to use differing numbers of intake valves from exhaust valves, for example, three intake valves and two exhaust valves. However, when this is done, the size and placement of the various components for actuating and closing the valves makes placement of such multiple numbers of valves very difficult if not impossible.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved valve actuating mechanism for an internal combustion engine that permits an increase in the number of valves that may be utilized per combustion chamber.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved valve actuating mechanism particularly adapted for engines having differing numbers of intake and exhaust valves per combustion chamber.